Collapsible and convertible enclosure for infants



April 7, 1953 F. M. BISHOFF COLLAPSIBLE AND CONVERTIBLE ENCLOSURE FORINFANTS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Aug. 23, 1950 INVENTOR.

A 7702 NE) F. M. BISHOFF 2,533,579 COLLAPSIBLE AND GQNVERTIBLE ENCLOSUREFOR INFANTS April 7, 1953 2 SI-IEETS-fSl-IEET 2 Filed Aug. 23, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

M. BISHOFF Patented Apr. 7, 1 953 .COLLAPSIBLE AND CONVERTIBLE ENCLOSUREFOR INFANTS Frederick M. Bishoff, Arlington, Va.

Application August 23, 1950, Serial No. 180,995

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a foldable inclosure for infants and moreparticularly to an improved inclosure which is easily collapsible forstorage purposes and capable of conversion from an inclosure to a childstable or desk.

The infants inclosures commercially available and commonly termed playpens are normally provided with a split floor which folds upwardly andtwo split side panels which fold inwardly to collapse the play pen forstorage. Play pens of this type are difficult to collapse since thefloor segments must be held in their upwardly folded positions while theside panels are being inwardly folded. The use of a split floor is alsodisadvantageous in that there is a tendency for one section to sag belowthe other with consequent danger of trapping and clamping the infantsfeet in the split between the two segments.

It is ageneral objective of this invention to overcome the disadvantagesoutlined above and to provide a play pen or similar inclosure which isnot only more readily collapsed but also suitable for conversion toother types of childrens furniture.

A more particular object of the invention lies in the provision of aplay pen having an unsplit rigid floor and unsplit rigid side panelswhich are pivotally turnable from their vertical inclosure definingpositions to horizontal folded positions overlying the floor.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of an inclosurewhose side panels are slidably and pivotally secured to corner postsupstanding from a base member so as to permit folding of the walls inany sequence to overlie the base member.

Still another object of the invention lies in the provision of aninclosure having a base member, side panels and panel supports, thepanels and panel supports being both readily attachable to each otherand to the base member as well as readily detachable from each other andfrom the base member.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of an inclosurefor infants having a hollow base member, readily attachable anddetachable panel supports and panels which, when detached, arereceivable in the hollow base for storage or transporting purposes.

A still further object of the invention lies in the provision of aninclosure for infants having a solid, rigid floor, upstanding panelsupports, and separable inclosure panels which, when detached from thepanel supports, permitsofthe 2 inversion of the floor and panel supportsto form a childs play table.

Still another object of the invention lies in the provision of aninclosure for infants having a hollow base member, upstanding panelsupports and separable inclosure defining panels which, when detachedfrom the supports, permits the base member to be inverted .to form adesklike structure supported on the panel supports, the hollow interiorof the base member forming a drawer-like compartment.

A still further object of the invention lies in the provision of afoldable play pen having readily separable panels and panel supports,and convertible from an inclosure to a table or desklike article forinfants play, and which is of simple construction, capable of economicfabrication.

I achieve these obiects and such other objects, advantages and featuresas may hereinafter appear or be pointed out in the manner shown by theseveral embodiments illustrated in the appended drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inclosure set up for use as achilds play pen.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing certain of the side panels foldedinto their storage positions.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1. V

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the corner posts.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section takenalong line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a different embodiment of thecorner post together with means for slidably and pivotally securing aside panel thereto.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the fastener utilized to secure theupper ends of the side panels together in their inclosure definingpositions. 1

Figure 8 is a plan view of the fastener in use at one corner of theinclosure.

Figure-9 is a side elevation of the fastener taken along line 9-9 ofFigure 8.

Figure 10' is an elevational view of the play pen in its foldedcondition and turned upon its side for storage carrying purposes. 7

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a modified inclosure shown partiallydisassembled.

Figure 12 is an enlarged section taken on'line l2l2 of Figure 11.

0f Figure 12;

Figure 14 is a reduced perspective view of the inclosure shown in Figure11 with the side panels removed and the base member inverted to form atable or desk-like article.

While the invention is described and illustrated herein with aparticular reference to an infants inclosure of the type known as a playpen, it will be understood that it is broadly applicable to inclosuresof other types such as strollers and cribs and is not necessarilylimited to a play pen.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures 1 through 5and 8 through 10, the play pen is shown as comprising a generallyrectangular inclosure it formed of wood or similar suitable material. Anunsplit floor or base member 5 l is provided upon which may beseparately supported a floor mat if of suitable soft material. The basemember is preferably square as shown although certain of the objectivesmay be obtained by forming the base member as an open rectangularframework, as for example, for use as a childs stroller. A panel supportor corher post 29, best shown in Figure l extends upwardly from eachcorner of the base member. The corner post is preferably square orrectangular in cross section, although it may be of other shape, and isprovided with a square slot 2i which receives the corner of the basemember and in which the base member may be permanently secured as bycement or glue or temporarily secured as by dowels or screws. The twosides of the corner post which face other corner posts in the assembledpen, are longitudinally grooved at 22, and from the upper ends of thesegrooves are extended lateral or horizontally positioned grooves 23 whichopen into the aforementioned sides of the corner posts. The lower endsof the corner posts are provided with openings, not shown, whichremovably re- 4-.

ceive the spindles of conventional caster assemblies as indicated at 25in Figure l.

The inclosure is defined by a plurality of side panels 38 which arepreferably of equal size. The side panels are formed as an openframework having upper and lower rails 3i and 32 respectively and sideframe members 33 and 3d. The opening within the frame members istraversed by spaced rods 35 which are preferably horizontal rather thanvertical to better enable the infant to lift himself and to exercisetherefrom. Each panel is provided close to its lower edge with a pair ofsidewardly extending trunnions or pivot pins 35 which are fixedlysecured to the panel frame members 33 and Si in any desired manner as byforce fit insertion into sockets therein.

The adjacent panels 36 are held together in inclosure defining verticalpositions at their upper edges by means of a fastener element (it, bestshown in Figures 7, 8 and 9. The fastener is preferably formed of metalor similar material and provided with two sides ii at right angles toeach other and meeting to form 'a corner edge 42. At the upper end ofthe fastener an integral web 43 connects the side walls ii to rigidifythe fastener and also provide for finger grasping. Each side wall i! isslotted as indicated at 44 with the slots opening into the lower edgesof the fastener. The frame members '33 and 34 of the-side panels $6 areprovided at their upper edges with headed members such as rivets orscrews shown in Figures 8 and 9 at 33. To fasten the side panels intheir inclosure defining positions it is only necessary to slide thefastener 49 downwardly engaging the slots M under the heads of theelements 38. When it is desired to collapse or fold the play pen, thefasteners are removed by inserting a finger under web 53 and lifting thefastener out of engagement with the headed members 38.

To assemble the inclosure for play pen use, each side panel .30 issecured to a pair of corner posts 29 by inserting the trunnions 36 inthe lateral grooves 23 and moving the trunnions until they register withthe vertical slots 22. When a pair of panels have been thus inserted andthen lowered to the bottoms of slots 22 a fastener it is applied to theheaded elements 38 in the manner previously described and serves to holdthe panels in their vertical positions. The remaining panels may beindividually applied and fastened to each other in a similar manner.space 3?, between the panels and the corner posts is preferably madelarge enough to receive the pins 3% and thus readily permit attachmentor detachment of the panels.

When it is desired to collapse the play pen inclosure for removal toanother site, or for storage, any two of the fastener elements 413 maybe first removed and the panel intermediate them allowed to turn into ahorizontal position about its trunnions riding in grooves 22. Anotherfastener may then be removed and a secand panel 36 turned down into ahorizontal position overlying the first panel and the base member asshown in Figure 2. Ordinarily in turning about its trunnions the secondpanel will be raised by contact with a portion of the first panel andthe trunnions of the second panel will be elevated thereby in grooves 22of the corner posts. However, if desired, the second panel may beslightly lifted before it is turned into its horizontal position toclear the already folded panel. The remaining two panels may beindividually turned, or lifted and turned, into their horizontalpositions overlying the first two panels upon removal of the remainingfastening elements 5!]. The panels may be folded of course in anydesired sequence. When thus collapsed the play pen is flat and occupiesonly that space defined by the area of the base member and the height ofthe corner posts, the side panels being in engaging, overlying relationand spaced from the base member by the floor pad :2, if the latter isleft in place while the pen is folded. The folded pen may be rolled inits horizontal position, or turned on one side and carried, or otherwisetransported, to a suitable storage area. When turned in the manner shownin Fig. 10, it will be noted that the last folded side panel hangsdownwardly and retains the other panels in their folded positions.

If desired, the side panels instead of folding may be readily detachedfrom the corner posts, after the fasteners have been removed, by liftingeach panel to the upper ends of grooves 22, so that pins 3% align withlateral grooves 23, and then moving the panel horizontally with its pinsriding in grooves 23 until separation is accomplished. When this isdone, and upon removal of the castors, the base ll may be inverted toform a table-like surface, for childs play, sup ported on posts 26acting as table legs.

In Figure 6 there is shown a modified version of the panel supportingcorner posts along with modified slidable panel pivot means. In thisembodiment the corner posts 20 may be made cylindrical or rectangular.The trunnion pin retaining slots 22 are omitted. Over the corner 5. post26' is slidably received a loop member 16 shaped to conform with thecross section of the corner post and vertically slidable thereon.Extending from one portion of the loop 16 is an integral pivot pin Hwhich is pivotally received in a socket opening 12 formed in the ends ofthe lower panel frame members 32. The pin fit may be a loose one, or ifdesired, suitable ring-like and resilient detent means not shown may beprovided in the socket 12 to conveniently grasp a grooved end of thepivot pin ll and prevent separation from the panel until sufficientforce is exerted to overcome the detent means. -It will be apparent thata panel thus pivotally attached to post 2t is capable of' turning aboutthe pin F2 as an axis and at the same time moving rectilinearly withrespect to the post by means of the sliding engagement of loop 16thereon. "The modified play pen shown in Figures 11 through 14 issimilar in construction to that previously described but difiers inseveral important respects. The base member instead of being a fiatplanar member is increased in height and made hollow. As will be notedfrom Figure 11, the modified base member 50 is formed of upper and lowerwalls and 52 and side walls 53, 54 and 55. interior forming acompartment 55 open to one side of the base for a purpose to behereinafter described.

The corner posts 60 in the modified play pen are similar to corner postsexcept that the castors of the lower ends are omitted and in placethereof the posts are made readily separable and attachable. One way ofproviding this feature is by forming each post 60 with rabbets 6| on twoopposed side faces. At each corner of the upper wall 5| of the basethere is affixed a post securing bracket 62 by any desired means such asscrews or the like, not shown. Each bracket has a pair of upstandingparallel side walls 53 each of which is flanged inwardly toward theother as at 64. An upstanding flange 65 closes one end of the bracketwhile the other end is open to permit ingress and egress of the cornerpost 65. The corner post is readily attached to the base member byinserting the corner post in the open end 66 of the bracket and slidingthe post to abutting relationship with the closed end or flange 65.During this movement the rabbets 6i slidably receive the inturnedflanges 64 which are preferably so formed as to provide resilient,frictional resistance to ingress movement of the corner post. Detachmentof the corner post is of course readily accomplished by movement of thepost in the, opposite direction against the friction of flanges 64.

Four corner posts 61! may be readily attached to the base 55 in themanner described above. After such attachment the side panels may beassembled and fastened in inclosure defining positions in the samemanner as previously described for the embodiment shown in Figure 1.After use as a play pen, the panels may be turned into horizontalpositions overlying the base in the same manner as described for theembodiment of Fig. 1 or each panel may be detached from the cornerposts, as previously described, and laid in the compartment 56, severalside panels being shown stored in this manner in Figure 11. Thecompartment is preferably of such size as to be capable of receiving forstorage, all four panels,

These walls provide a hollow Cir leave space, as indicated at A inFigure 11, for

receiving the four corner posts 60 and the fasa tener elements 40, upontheir detachment.

If it is desired to utilize the play pen shown in Figure 11 as a tableor desk it is only neces-' sary to detach the four side panels 36 andinvert the base member 50 so that it will be supported upon the cornerposts 60 as shown in Figure 14.. When turned into this position thelower surface 52 forms a table or desk top and the upper sur-- face 5|together with the walls 53, 5d and 55 form a drawer-like compartment inthe desk suitable for holding the play toys of the child.

It-will be observed from the description above that my improved play penmay be readily assembled or disassembled without the need for tools orother special equipment by merely in terengaging the separate componentparts. All of the parts are of relatively simple construction and manyare duplicates in size and shape so that the pen may be practicallyconstructed at low cost. When assembled the inclosure may be readilycollapsed by simple lifting and turning movements without requiring aset sequence of operations, and when thus folded or collapsed occupies aminimum of pace. The play pen of Fig.1, upon removal of its side panels,may be readily inverted and converted into a table while the play pen ofFig. 11 may be easily converted in a similar manner to a desk forutilization by an infant in his play. In the modification shown inFigure 11 all of the parts may be readily disassembled and placed in thebase member which provides a convenient packing or storage container.

It will be apparent that modifications may be made in the illustratedembodiments by those skilled in the art without necessarily departingfrom the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described and illustrated my invention, what I desire tosecure by grant of Letters Patent is:

1. A foldable inclosure for infants comprising a rectangular floorhaving upstanding corner posts, a plurality of side panels. releasablemeans r for. fastening the panels together in substantially verticalinclosure defining positions, each of said corner posts being providedwith a pair of vertically extending grooves facing toward adjacentcorner posts and trunnions on each of said panels slidably fitting intosaid corner post grooves, whereby the panels may be folded to overlysaid floor by successively turning the panels about their slidingtrunnions.

2. A collapsible and convertible infants inclosure comprising, .arectangular floor, corner posts extending upwardly from said floor, andreadily attachable and separable inclosure side panels slidably pivotedto said corner posts, said panels when attached and turned to uprightpositions forming an infants inclosure, said panels being foldable tocollapsed condition of the inclosure by successively lifting and turningeach panel to overlie said floor, the detachment and separation of saidpanels permitting inversion of said floor to form a table surfacesupported on said corner posts.

3. An inclosure for infants comprising, a base member having a hollowinterior forming a compartment, spaced posts extending upwardly from theupper surface of the base member, means for readily attaching anddetaching said posts, inclosure forming side panels upstanding from theupper surface of said base member secured to said posts, and means forreadily attaching and detaching the side panels, said side panels andposts when detached being receivable in said compartment for storage.

4. An-inclosure for infants :as set forth in claim 3 wherein, said basemember compartment is open to one side of the base and upon detachmentof the side panels the base member may be inverted and supported on saidposts to form a desk-like body having a drawer-like compartment.

5. An inclosure for infants as set forth in claim 3 wherein, said panelsare provided with means for slidably moving along'said posts includingmeans for turning the panels :from their upstanding inclosure definingpositions to positions overly ng said base member.

6. A foldable inclosure for infants comprising, a base member, aplurality of side panels, releasable means for fastening the upper endsof adjacent panels together in substantially vertical, inclosuredefining positions, upstanding posts carried by said base member andmeans on each of said posts for slideably and pivotally supporting theadjacent lower ends of a pair of panels, whereby all of said panels,upon release of said fastening means, may be folded into substantiallyhorizontal, overlying and juxtaposed positions by lifting each panelsuccessively to clear previously folded panels and turning each panelabout said slideable pivot means.

'7. A foldable inclosure as set forth in claim 6 wherein, said means forslideably and pivotally supporting the panels to the posts comprisespivot pins extending from the lower ends of each panel and a pair ofsockets in each of the posts receiving said pivot pins from adjacentpaired panels for rectilinear and turning movements.

8. A foldable inclosure as set'forth in claim 6 wherein, said means forslideably and pivotaliy supporting the panels to the posts comprisesloop members slideably receiving the posts and having extension pinspivotally received in sockets in said panels.

9. An inclosure for infants comprising, a base member, a plurality ofupstanding posts carried by said base member, and vertical, enclosuredefining side panels provided with trunnions extending from their ends,each of said posts having a pair of longitudinally extending grooveseach of which is provided with a laterally extending groovecommunicating therewith and with an exterior surface of said post, saidlateral grooves slideably receiving said side panel trunnions forassembly of the side panels to the posts and for separation therefrom,and said longitudinal grooves slideably and pivotally receivingjuxtaposed positions covering said base member.

10. An inclcsure for infants comprising, a base member carrying aplurality of upstanding posts and inclosure defining side panelsprovided'with trunnions extending from their ends, each of said postshaving a plurality of exterior faces, a longitudinally extending groovein each of two faces on each post, each groove communicating with alaterally extending groove opening into a different post face, saidlateral grooves slideably receiving said side panel trunnions forassembly of the panels to the posts and for separation therefrom, andsaid longitudinal grooves slideably and pivotally receiving saidtrumiions .for successively lifting and turning all of the panels tofolded, overlying and juxtaposed positions covering said base member.

11. A collapsible and convertible infants inclosure comprising, a floorhaving spaced upstanding posts, means for readily attaching anddetaching said posts to the upper surface of said floor, inclosureforming side panels upstanding from said floor and slideably pivoted tosaid posts and means for readily attaching and detaching said panelswhereby, said inclosure may be collapsed by successively lifting andturning said panels on their slideable pivots to overlie the floor, orsaid inclosure may be converted to form a table by detachment of saidpanels and the floor inverted for support on said posts, and saidinclosure may be completely disassembled by separation of said posts andsaid panels from each other and from said floor.

12. An infants inclosure as set forth in claim 11 wherein, said meansfor readily attaching and detaching the posts comprise brackets securedto the floor each having a pair of upstanding parallel sides withflanges inturned toward each other and said posts are provided withrabbets for slidably receiving said inturned flanges.

FREDERICK M. BISHOFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 467,456 Harden Jan. 19, 18921,096,221 Caldwell May'lZ, 1914 2,255,791 Klopfer Sept. 16, 19412,386,721 Sedita Oct. 9, I945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date164,585 Great Britain June 16, 1921

